Cronius the Pythagorean

Kronios was a Greek philosopher ( Platonist ). He lived around the middle of the 2nd century AD

Life

About Kronios ' origin is not known. He is referred to in the sources and partly as a Platonist, partly as the Pythagoreans. Apparently he was a member as the influential philosopher Numenius, whose friend he was, the direction of Mittelplatonismus and was influenced by the neo-Pythagoreanism. Possibly he is identical with the Kronios, the Lucian dedicated his penned in Greek in the year 165 work " The Death of Peregrinus " ( De morte Peregrini ); it speaks the introductory salutation, which Lucian describes as platonic elsewhere.

Works and teaching

The works of Kronios are lost. Only one of them, "On the Revival" ( Peri palingenesías ), the title is known as Nemesio of Emesa calls him. Nemesio reported Kronios have there expressed to the often -discussed question of whether Einkörperungen human souls into the bodies of animals are possible, that is, whether there is a fundamental difference between animal and human souls. What is your opinion on this Kronios represented, is controversial in research. How Numenios was Kronios the belief that each Einkörperung the soul is an evil. The cause of the evil he saw - even in this point, the view of the Numenios sharing - not in its own inadequacy of the soul, but in the matter; from there, so from the outside, evil enters into the soul.

Kronios turned against the Stoic doctrine of a fire brought about by the destruction of the cosmos. He argued that the fire was not able to destroy all other kinds of matter, and it would be kept counteracting forces from him at bay. He held the world forever and pointed - like many other Platonist - the world of creation in Plato's dialogue Timaeus, not in the sense of a temporal world first, but as a euphemism for an eternal cause-effect relationship between the Creator ( Demiurge ) and the creation.

Among the works of Plato, the Kronios commented at least partially, is the dialogue Politeia. In addition, he also devoted himself to commenting Homer. He showed a predilection for the allegorical interpretation.

Aftereffect

Kronios was one of the philosophers, whose works included in the 3rd century in the Neo-Platonic school of Plotinus in Rome for the curriculum. Also, the church father Origen himself with the. Plotinus ' student Porphyry criticized Kronios ' Homer interpretation, which he considered arbitrary; he said, Kronios insinuating the poet his own view.

Even in late antiquity regarded the Neoplatonists Kronios as an authority; Syrianos counted him among the most significant and Platonists Proclus took up his views with respect.

Swell

Emiel A. Leemans: Study over the wijsgeer Numenius of Apamea van met uitgave the fragments, Bruxelles 1937, pp. 153-157 ( compilation of Greek and Latin source texts to Kronios, the cited passage where S. 154 No. 3 was mistakenly referred to Kronios )